


cool morning breeze

by Anonymous



Series: shit i refuse post off anon for no good reason [15]
Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Again, Alternate Universe, Developing Relationship, M/M, Multi, Pirates, Polyamory, WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT?, also merfolk can turn into humans on land or smth like that, bc I said so, i guess the pirate part is sort of implied, merfolk, near is also addressed as they/them in the fic bc i said so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:54:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28165104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: mello and matt find someone not quite human in one of their nets and takes them in.
Relationships: Matt | Mail Jeevas/Mello | Mihael Keehl/Near | Nate River
Series: shit i refuse post off anon for no good reason [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095833
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15
Collections: Anonymous





	cool morning breeze

**Author's Note:**

> if you didn't read the tags this is a psa, near's pronouns are they/them in this bc i like near having they/them pronouns leave me alone (also i will tell you now that near may seem ooc in the beginning but don't worry he won't be (at least i hope not))
> 
> also i saw this idea in a post on tumblr but now i cannot find it so maybe if you see it tell me so i can link it, that would be lovely
> 
> this is unbeta'd and mostly unedited, apologies for any mistakes

It was a chilly morning, crisp, but not too windy. The waves were relatively calm, gently rocking the boat. Mello surveyed the vast ocean, looking out for any other ships or land nearby. As of now there was nothing, only the waters and his ship. 

"Morning," Matt grumbled, coming to lean on Mello's shoulder tiredly. He'd never been a morning person and was slow to rise. Mello had already been up for some time, mainly because the poetic part of him enjoyed the view of the sun rising from the ocean waters, painting a lovely picture of warm hues that reflected on the waves. 

Of course, the rest of the crew didn't know that. Only Matt. 

Mello kissed his forehead softly and reached to flatten Matt's behead. Matt just sighed, content to lean against Mello and stay there, though he did shiver a bit. There was no sun today, just blankets of soft gray clouds. Matt would certainly say it was miserable out because of that, though Mello thought it was fine. 

"Need to get to work," Mello commented, nudging Matt a bit. "Slacker." 

"Don't be like that," Matt complained, stretching and yawning. "You have a whole crew to do your work, captain." 

Mello just grinned and put an arm around Matt. The crew _was_ aware of their relationship, but no one dared say anything about it. They might be stronger, but Mello was far more intelligent. They wouldn't get anywhere without him, or even Matt. 

Not that the crew didn't have relationships among themselves anyway. 

The two of them stayed there for a while, just watching the waters pass by. It wasn't always peaceful like this, but Mello did cherish these lovely moments. 

Their calm morning was interrupted by raised voices, a harsh knife of noise cutting through the quietness of the morning. Mello sighed deeply. Often times, disruptions from the crew were unnecessary, always for the simplest of reasons. Mello had never had the patience to deal with it. 

"I'll go see what they're barking at this morning," Matt muttered, kissing Mello's cheek before going off to see what the noise was all about. Matt wasn't always the best with people, but he was far more patient than Mello and the crew members tended to be less afraid of him. 

Mello was always content to let Matt deal with the issues. 

"Mello, you need to come see this!" Matt called. Mello groaned, but made his way over. If Matt actually wanted him over there, it had to be serious. 

The men were quieter now and shuffled out of the way, revealing one of their fishing nets lying on the deck. Mello barely glanced at it at first, assuming it was simply broken. It looked like they'd caught a very large fish, so it made sense. Then, he looked again.

_Not a normal fish..._

The tail of the merperson was a mix of white and shades of light blue. Their upper half was pale, face covered by a long curtain of sopping white hair. They were tangled up in the net, but weren't trying to free themselves. Instead, they sat there limply, avoiding looking at anyone around them. Matt had stuck his fingers through the netting and the merperson was limply holding onto them with one hand, but otherwise didn't acknowledge Matt's presence. 

"What should we do with it, captain?" one of the men asked. Mello bristled slightly at the wording. Personally, he wasn't familiar with merfolk, or many other creatures of the sea similar to them, but it didn't feel right to call them an "it." 

"Back to your jobs for now," Mello said, waving them off. "We'll decide what to do later. Back to your work." The men nodded and left him and Matt to watch over their guest. 

Mello, unsure, began to consider his options. He could throw the merperson back into the ocean where they belonged, but it would cause some unrest among the crew, throwing away what could be a good source of money without reason. On the other hand, it might not be wise to keep them captive. If they had friends or family waiting for them, it could spell bad news for the ship. 

While he contemplated what to do with them, Matt spoke to them in a low, soothing tone, trying to get them to talk. The merperson wasn't responding, but their fingers remained firmly wrapped around Matt's. 

"I don't think they understand you," Mello said after a moment. Matt looked up and then back at the merperson with sympathy. It was only then that Mello noticed the scratches running down their arms, their back. Mello crouched down on their level and reached out to touch gently. They stared at his hand, but otherwise didn't respond to him.

"I feel awful. Should we let them go?" 

"I don't know. Look at all the marks on them. What do you suppose happened?" 

Matt looked them over, not having noticed the wounds. It only served to make him feel worse about the whole thing. Mello knew that Matt was more empathetic than he and probably wanted to help the poor soul they'd taken out of the ocean. On cue, they made a small sound in the back of their throat, quiet and nervous. 

"It's okay," Matt said, trying to calm them. "Can't we at least take them out of the net? They're terrified." 

Mello nodded and they began to untangle the merperson from the net. They were very still as Mello and Matt got them out, almost unresponsive. Mello would've thought they were dead if he couldn't see them blinking at him

By the way Matt spoke to them softly, Mello had a feeling that they were there to stay, at least for now. Until they had a good solution to dealing with them. 

As he found out, Mello was out of his depth dealing with a merperson. His lack of knowledge wasn't helpful, though Matt apparently was able to fill in those gaps. Mello hadn't the faintest clue where Matt had learned about merfolk or anything of the sort, though he was certainly glad that he did. 

It became clear to him that he was completely lost when Matt brought out some clothes for the merperson. Mello had scowled and asked why on earth they'd need that and was subsequently told that merpeople, when on land and dry, essentially turned human, or something similar. Mello hadn't quite seen the process, since their guest had tried to hide themself as the change happened, but he was baffled to learn that it was a thing. 

Mello was also a bit disgruntled that Matt had chosen to give them one of _his_ shirts. Not to mention, one of Matt's pairs of pants. 

Though, he was also a bit suspicious. They had known how to put on the clothes without any help. As if they were familiar with humans.

Matt clearly hadn't noticed anything off, but Mello thought that perhaps he was more awestruck by the presence of a merperson on their ship. Mello too would begrudgingly admit that they were indeed as beautiful as the stories said. 

Against his better judgement, he left Matt to deal with the merperson and distracted himself by doing his damn job instead. Still, there was a nagging in the back of his mind that something was not right. If the merperson had truly been frightened, they probably would’ve tried to push him or Matt away. Or at least, they would’ve attempted to jump back into the ocean. 

They were far too calm for Mello’s liking. 

Luckily, Mello found his chance to talk to the merperson alone when he sent Matt out to get them all food. He left them both in Mello's quarters without complaint. The minute the door clicked shut, Mello slowly sat down across from the merperson, never taking his eyes off them. They still did not meet his gaze. 

"I know you understand me, at least a little," Mello started slowly, deciding to lay all his cards on the table. "I can tell you’re familiar with humans. What's your deal?" 

For a moment, Mello almost thought that they wouldn't respond, but then they met Mello's gaze with calculating gray eyes. Sharp, cold, and very much unafraid. 

"I want to stay on your ship," they said slowly, carefully. A finger idly twirled at a curl in their hair. "I was... in captivity for most of my life. I was released, but I don't know how to adapt. I'm not accustomed to living in the ocean, dealing with other merpeople. I need help." 

"You want to stay human?" 

"Not all the time. I can swim alongside your ship when I want to just fine, thank you." 

"So what, you just want us to take care of you?" 

"People pay good money to see merpeople. You can show me off at ports and whatnot as payment for it." 

Mello weighed his options. Yes, it would be another good source of income and really, having them on board wouldn't be that much of a burden. The crew wouldn't question it either, if the merperson were to partner with them for protection. That's how many of them had ended up on this ship too. 

Really, there wasn't a reason to say no. They'd been honest when asked, so Mello didn't think that they were much of a liar. He wasn't sure what else they could do, but if they were willing to carry their weight to stay on board, Mello was willing to take them. 

"That will work," Mello said after a moment's hesitation. "As long as you follow my rules on board. What's your name?" 

"Near." 

"Welcome aboard then, Near." 

Matt chose that moment to come back in, hands full of food. He stopped and stared at them when he realized that the atmosphere was a little tense. 

"What are we talking about?" Matt asked nervously. He shot a small look to Mello, a warning not to be mean to Near. Mello just shook his head and gestured to Near. 

"Tell him everything you just told me."

* * *

As it was, Near fit in quite well with the crew. The merperson was quite the opposite of them, quiet and small, but the men all soon learned that they were crafty. The net that they had broken being captured was fixed that day by Near. Their ideas for efficiency on board, both with the crew and with the ship's equipment, were... well, genius. 

Everyone took a liking to them outside the ship too. Every place they visited, Near would jump in the water and swim alongside them, so that when they got to the port, the crew could charge people to gawk at them. Near didn't like being the center of attention much, but it put a good chunk of change in their pockets and certainly covered anything Near would owe for staying on board. They quite enjoyed the gifts the people gave them too. 

Mello would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in Near too. Previously, the only person who he would eat dinner with was Matt, so they could privately discuss the ship's state. Now, Near joined them. Mello and Matt both lied, telling themselves that it was only because Near had displayed an aptitude for helping out around the ship and had good ideas. Not because they'd both developed a fondness for them that they hadn't felt for anyone but each other. 

Mello realized how very lovestruck he was, hell, how both of them were, on a warm, sunny summer day. Near was swimming alongside the ship, Mello leaning over the side to watch as their bright scales flashed in the sun. Matt was next to him, head on his shoulder, smiling fondly down at Near. 

Near popped out of the water for a moment just to wave at them, eyes bright. Mello was certain it was because they had their attention. It was something that he'd come to realize that Near loved, despite hating being the center of attention. He always thought it was sort of funny that Near liked Mello's and Matt's attention and _only_ theirs.

Matt and him both waved back enthusiastically. 

It was then that Mello realized that his stomach was in knots for no reason. A rush of happiness for what, a wave from Near? It felt sort of silly, to get excited over something so simple. In fact, that type of thing was something he normally felt only when looking at Matt-

The implications of the feelings wasn't lost on him and he turned to look at Matt, just as Matt turned to him with the same sort of expression. As if they'd both had the same epiphany. 

And Mello knew Matt well enough that he was near certain that they _had_. 

That night saw them both talking to Near in the late night hours, explaining themselves as best they could. Near simply heard them out with a blank expression, only to tell them that they were already aware. The crew, apparently, had been joking with them about when the three of them would be getting married. 

That being said, the next morning, when both Matt and Near came out to join him in the morning and leaned against him, the crew were quite smug. Matt swore he saw some of them handing each other money from bets on when the three of them would get together.

The three of them merely ignored the crew and ordered them to get back to work. The crew would have plenty of time to make a fuss later. The three of them would be in charge of this ship for a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> idk why i put this on anon bc it doesn't even have smut. does it even matter anyway? i feel like some ppl who i am but are just playing along with me like "yes hmmmm mysterious anon, definitely not That Person" (which honestly would be kinda funny but idk)
> 
> anyway i saw this idea on tumblr somewhere and was like ooooo good idea and wrote it. (also if someone can write a better mermaid story with this ship do it pls i will read it and you're probably better than me) also i referred to near as a "merperson" rather than mermaid or merman because i don't really like either of those words (like they're totally fine but i didn't want to write them) so... yeah.... 
> 
> also i busted this shit out in like two days so sorry if it absolutely sucks, might come back and fix it later. ending was supposed to be longer but i am Tired and out of ideas :( hope you liked it anyway tho


End file.
